While the identity of its writers and backers remains a mystery, this much is clear, the new conservative political website Colorado Peak Politics hopes to counter the forces over at the liberal Colorado Pols.

Tipsters and sources intrigued by your Lookout Colorado correspondent’s Peak post yesterday say the new site’s tongue-in-cheek response to questions about its goals and funding don’t quite capture the scope of its ambition.

Peak told me it has a staff of two “unruly and well-versed conservatives,” but sources with a better understanding of the site add that the writers are guided by an experienced conservative politico who hopes to create the same kind of insider culture enjoyed by the veteran Pols apparatus.

So each day, as left-minded elected officials and staffers under the Gold Dome feed information to Pols wordsmiths, a right-minded effort hopes to rise up in contrast at Peak.

“I absolutely get that take, and I applaud them for it,” said Todd Shepherd, the founder and co-owner of Complete Colorado. “Quite frankly, it’s overdue.”

Conventional wisdom holds that Republicans would waste time and resources running against Colorado Congresswoman Diana DeGette, but a powerful national Republican organization has found promising her opponent, Mike Fallon, and extended symbolic support to the Denver doctor late yesterday.

The distinction places Fallon onto something like farm-team status. The NRCC’s program to groom congressional candidates to full-fledged Young Guns notoriety (think wunderkind Rep. Paul Ryan) includes newcomers who have been designated as “On the Radar.”

Fallon joins nine other Republican congressional candidates who are now “On the Radar.”

If the entrepreneurial emergency room doctor’s profile advances from here, the NRCC would label him a “Contender.” From there, he would aspire to full “Young Guns” status.

What does all this mean? And what are they thinking? DeGette, presently rounding out her seventh term in Washington, is a popular Democrat in a hugely Democratic district who wins re-election campaigns as handily as Lance Armstrong won bicycle races in his prime.

Team Fallon’s campaign manager, Michelle Balch Lyng, tells your Spotted This Morning correspondent the designation helps potential donors who care about how their money is spent.

Not only does Rolly Fischer’s account to KMGH Channel 7 make it appear that Scott McInnis is fully responsible for the significant plagiarism within McInnis’ “Musings on Water,” articles – Fischer has what he says is a letter from Team McPlagiarist that looks devastating.

The letter Fischer says the campaign tried to get him to sign would have made make it look like the researcher took full responsibility for the plagiarism.

Dear Scott:

I am writing to express my sincere apology for failing to provide appropriate attribution for the research I provided for the water articles we collaborated on. While my mistake was not intentional, it is nonetheless clear that this material needed footnotes.

This mistake was solely my own and I recognize that my work fell short of the expectations you had when you included me in this project.

Meanwhile, the researcher, he claims, was kept in the dark on the purpose of his research. Further, Fischer says he didn’t know that McInnis was getting paid serious coin for the articles his work went on to create. Fischer says he was paid a few hundred dollars for each article he researched. McInnis was paid $300,000.

Team McInnis Spokesman Sean Duffy told The Denver Post last night that something was wrong with Fischer’s comments to Channel 7.

Something about the former conservative congressman evokes the archaic, yet Tom Tancredo is back in the news, considering a Republican primary challenge in the gubernatorial race.

Haven’t the Grand Old Party’s big brass already said they want Scott McInnis (another former congressman who also evokes the archaic)?

The easy explanation is to write off the former one-issue presidential candidate as a publicity seeker, but the notorious anti-immigration conservative has no trouble attracting attention. Tancredo could stir up plenty of intrigue doing something other than running for governor.

Meanwhile, it’s worth noting that Tancredo, the conservative’s conservative, has been busy working behind the scenes in Colorado politics, trying to shore up his party’s infrastructure.

In fact, there is a better explanation than the assumed publicity stunt, and it interestingly shifts the focus from Tancredo to his would-be opponent.

Party insiders say the problem is that the campaign McInnis has structured to date has created a vacuum that conservatives abhor.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.